Women's Tennis Drops 5-2 Decision to Charleston

Saturday, April 5

Wilmington, N.C.

9:00 AM

James Madison University

College of Charleston

4/5/2014 11:01:00 PM | Women's Tennis

WILMINGTON, N.C., April 5, 2014 – James Madison women's tennis saw its five-match win-streak snapped by the College of Charleston on Saturday morning as the Dukes fell 5-2 in their neutral-site conference-match against the Cougars.

JMU sits at 10-4 overall and 2-2 against Colonial Athletic Association opponents while Charleston is 15-7 with a 4-1 record against CAA squads.

The Cougars swept doubles play to tally the point and take a 1-0 advantage into singles action. Sophomore Cara Wirth (Reading, Pa./Wilson) and freshman Rachel Nelson (Big Prairie, Ohio/West Holmes) fell 8-5 to Samantha Maddox and Jamie Harrell at No. 3 doubles before junior Taylor Pinchoff (Sylvan Lake, Mich./West Bloomfield) and freshman Alex Huie (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) dropped an 8-6 decision to Jenny Falcone and Katherine Schofield at No. 1 doubles.

Seniors Jacqueline Palmucci (Aurora, Colo./Cherokee Trail) and Ruxandra Andriescu (Brampton, Ontario, Canada/Turner Fenton) suffered a 6-6 (1-0) tiebreaker loss at No. 2 doubles to Kelly Kambourelis and Mara Argyriou, which snapped a nine-match win-streak by the duo.

Palmucci, however, knotted the match at 1-all after she blanked Thai Thompson in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) at No. 6 singles. The victory was her 10th consecutive in singles play and 11th overall in spring duals.

Charleston retook the lead at 2-1 after Jenny Falcone defeated freshman Emily Bradshaw (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada/Blyth Academy) 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles. JMU quickly tied the match again with a 6-3, 6-2 win by Nelson at No. 3 singles over Schofield.

Tied at 2-2, the Cougars won the next three points to secure the win. Huie fell in two sets (7-6, 6-2) to Maddox at No. 2 singles, followed by a two-set loss (6-4, 7-6) by Andriescu to Grace Baker at No. 5 singles. Pinchoff took the early one-set lead over Argyriou at No. 1 singles, but dropped the second set before losing the decisive third-set tiebreaker (6-7, 6-0, 1-0).

The Dukes close out conference play on Sunday as they face UNCW at 11 a.m. in Wilmington, N.C.